Colorado fires: Tens of thousands flee ‘monster’ blaze

There were fears that the fire could grow even larger, with only five per cent
of the blaze being described as “contained”. It has been suggested that it
could continue to burn for more than a month fuelled by the dry conditions
and temperatures that exceed 100F each day.

Rich Brown, the Colorado fire chief, said the blaze was a “monster” which was
“not remotely close to being contained”, adding: “This is a fire of epic
proportions… This is an active fire … please do not be deceived.”

He said it was still unclear how many homes in Colorado Springs had been
destroyed. “There are some homes impacted, there is no question about it. We
do not know the number,” he said. John Hickenlooper, the governor of
Colorado, flew above the fire on his way to Colorado Springs. He said
looking down on it from the air was like looking at a military invasion.

“It was almost like looking at the worst movie set you could imagine,” he
said. “You could see exactly where the fire came down. All the bright spots,
as you got closer, you saw they were people’s homes. They weren’t trees on
fire. They were people’s homes, burned to the ground, block after block.
It’s almost surreal. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

The notice for 32,000 people to evacuate the area was issued to residents in
Colorado Springs to the west of Interstate 25, the road that dissects the
state from north to south.

Brit Robinson, 44, and her nine-year-old triplet daughters were among those
who fled, not knowing if their home was still standing. Miss Robinson, who
lives in Rockrimmon, said: “My parents live above me on the mountain in
Peregrine and as we left we could see the flames getting close. We think
that houses in Peregrine and Rockrimmon are burning but we don’t know if our
homes are on fire or not. We will be devastated if something does happen to
the house but I am just happy we are safe. It could have been so much worse.”

Christine Williams and her daughter Serina saw flames just 30 yards from their
apartment complex when they fled. “It’s like we’ve had our life swiped out
from underneath us,” said Serina

In the north of the state, near Fort Collins, a fire in High Park is already
the second worst in the history of Colorado. It started following a
lightning strike on June 9 and is currently only 65 per cent contained. It
has destroyed 257 homes and as of yesterday had spread across 87,284 acres.
One person has been killed.

More than 2,400 residents in the city of Boulder were on Wednesday told to
evacuate the area following another fire in the north of the state.

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